India’s sole athlete on the Beijing Olympics hails from Kashmir. Arif Khan took up wintry weather sports activities after being inspired via his father, who owns a ski store and was once taught the whole thing there’s in regards to the Himalayas via Colonel Narendra Kumar – one of the most first Indians to scale the Siachen Glacier and a workforce member of Operation Meghdoot to snatch regulate of the Siachen Glacier in 1984.
‘When you’re an athlete, this will have to be your dream,’ stated Gulmarg’s Arif in an Instagram submit whilst status in entrance of the Olympic rings on the Yanqing Nationwide Alpine Ski Centre, 90 kms northwest of Beijing. He’s India’s lone entrant to the 2022 Iciness Olympics and made historical past when he turned into the primary Indian guy to qualify for 2 occasions – slalom and large slalom – in one Iciness Olympics.
Qualifying for his first Olympics came about at the slopes of Dubai’s synthetic snow. It was once additional adopted via a quota spot in males’s large slalom, earned in Kolasin, Montenegro.
This dream of Arif’s was once set in movement method ahead of he was once even born. Within the Nineteen Eighties, Colonel Kumar and his circle of relatives arrange Mercury Himalayan Explorations. For 36 years, Yasin Khan labored with India’s premier mountain climbing circle of relatives, putting in place a tourism trade in Gulmarg. He was once a part of the trade when Colonel Kumar’s daughter Shailaja participated within the 1988 Calgary Iciness Olympics for India within the slalom tournament.
Six years after he noticed his employer’s daughter grow to be the primary Indian girl to take part within the Iciness Olympics, Yasin arrange his personal store in Gulmarg, throughout a slope that won recent snow fall. After which his son brought about him to dream.
“I nonetheless keep in mind the day I entered Gulmarg for the primary time. There was once such a lot snow once we have been strolling via the ones galis against my father’s ski store. The following day he stood beside me and helped me put at the boots, tighten the bindings and get onto the skis,” recollects Arif.
It took the senior Khan 4 days to be satisfied that he would possibly have simply noticed some other Olympian-in-the-making. It wasn’t simply the fish-to-water nature of his son’s first snow enjoy, however the loss of concern he confirmed whilst snowboarding downhill. It was once nearly as though he was once born to do that.
“Darpok nahi tha (he wasn’t scared),” his father sums up.
That commentary would ring true as a tender Arif started to trip outdoor India at the same time as he hit teenage years. The circle of relatives’s trade – Kashmir Alpine Ski Store at Highlands Park – made sufficient to devote a big bite of profits to ship him for competitions internationally. Turkey, Spain, Iran – anyplace there was once an icy slope, a tender Kashmiri teen, all on my own in that a part of the arena, could be provide.
However cash quickly turned into a think about Arif’s building. He was once nicely acutely aware of pioneers like Shiva Kesavan, who was once all the time in fund-raising mode, without a actual govt strengthen for the Iciness Olympians. Years of being within the wasteland, and slowly clawing his method into the rivalry in a game that hardly made an influence on the remainder of the rustic, would have made any individual much less made up our minds surrender. However the circle of relatives trade stored Arif afloat. Buddies and well-wishers stored chipping in through the years.
Controversy & setback
It wasn’t till 2017 that Arif had his first actual sniff of a hope of creating it to the Olympics. The Pyeongchang Video games have been in any case intended to be his debut at the greatest level. However the lean trade years of 2016-18 had hit the circle of relatives exhausting. Coupled with that, an issue erupted within the Indian wintry weather sports activities group when information leaked that Arif had visited Pakistan.
“He was once the South Asian champion on the time. Invitations for the development in Pakistan have been despatched to the most efficient skiers on the earth. The ski federation president gave him permission to head as nicely. He was once known as an anti-Indian,” stated Arif’s father.
Arif was once intended to participate in 5 other occasions in an try to qualify in a while after. However the turbulent duration had taken its toll and he failed in his makes an attempt to go into his first Olympics. “I neglected out at the investment for the Olympics via Rs 1.5 lakh,” chuckled the previous Military College alumni over telephone when recalling the setback.
With PyeongChang within the rear-view reflect, Arif made up our minds to double up on his coaching in addition to his investment assets. However a few years later, Covid struck. Trade within the Kashmir Valley, already bottlenecked, was once unexpectedly a trickle.
“Tourism is all the time dependent at the scenario in Kashmir. If there’s a just right scenario, tourism is just right. An enormous choice of folks are available for wintry weather game actions. But when the placement within the valley is other, hardly ever someone comes,” Arif advised The Indian Categorical. However then the primary wave subsided and Indians began to flock in document numbers to Gulmarg. Problem in going in another country was once what did the trick, stated Arif.
“Covid in reality introduced trade again to us as a result of there was once nowhere else to head. Europe was once closed for Indian vacationers and the one vacation spot that was once open was once Kashmir. Nearly 50 % extra folks got here all through this era for tourism. It was once one of the most perfect years now we have ever had in Kashmir.”
The surprising upward push in trade, coupled with Arif having to take a seat out the 2020 season on account of the virus, led to a bump in his pockets in contrast to earlier years. A Eu coaching stint adopted after which a possibility stumble upon in Gulmarg grew to become the whole thing on its head.
A member of the Jindal circle of relatives was once snowboarding in Gulmarg and a a success assembly between father, son and company investment came about. These days, 40 % of Arif’s coaching bills are looked after via JSW. The remaining come from his inclusion in Goal Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) in addition to the Jammu and Kashmir govt’s coffers.
“We attempted to make the tale of any individual from India being part of the Iciness Olympics as the primary enchantment,” stated Arif. He succeeded in doing so, although it took over 120 world occasions, disappointments galore – even a marriage postponement. Early morning on Sunday, that luck will get its second within the snow.
#ArifKhan, the one athlete representing India at #Beijing2022, carries the tricolor prime on the opening rite.
The 31-year-old Alpine skier will compete within the Slalom and Massive Slalom occasions scheduled to happen on February 13 and 16 percent.twitter.com/dZKEOZO0Lg
— Categorical Sports activities (@IExpressSports) February 4, 2022
Watch Arif Khan’s Massive Slalom tournament on February 13, Sunday on Olympics.com (Run 1 – 7:45 AM IST, Run 2 – 11:15 AM IST)